A rare solo performance by composer and pianist Terry Riley, an installation by Ellen Fullman that turns the museum itself into a gigantic stringed instrument, and percussion pieces featuring a swinging microphone and 100 metronomes performed by percussionist William Winant are highlights of the music programs for L@TE: Friday Nights @ BAM/PFA, announced by Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) for the 2009-10 season. The first Friday of each month is curated by guest programmer Sarah Cahill, a leading programmer of experimental music, beginning in November 2009 and running through June 2010 (except January 2010). All L@TE programs take place in Gallery B, the museum’s dramatic 6,692-square-foot atrium space; prior to and during the programs, upper galleries are open to visitors, with DJs and wine and beer in the museum lobby.

Cahill’s series opens with Pipe Dreams, a rare solo concert by composer/pianist and minimalist pioneer Terry Riley (Nov. 6, 9 p.m.); the performance is projected to go on until midnight, and audience members are invited to bring a pillow to make themselves comfortable on the gallery floor. Riley is best known for pioneering the minimalist movement in music with his 1964 composition In C. He has studied Indian classical music with Pandit Pran Nath, explored jazz with Chet Baker and reinvigorated the string quartet ensemble via his collaborations with the Kronos Quartet. Along the way, his enormously influential music has inspired generations of composers around the world and provided the creative spark for rock bands such as Can and the Velvet Underground.

The series continues with composer Ellen Fullman’s installation and performance of her Long Stringed Instrument, created by dozens of wires 50 feet or more in length stretched across the gallery and played with rosined fingers (Dec. 4, 7:30 p.m.). Performers scheduled for 2010 include percussionist William Winant, composer Carl Stone, composer/singer Ken Ueno and composer/cellist Joan Jeanrenaud.

As a guest programmer for L@TE, Cahill will develop innovative concepts of performance inspired by the museum’s Gallery B space, with its soaring ceilings, concrete walls, natural light and exceptional acoustics. The programs will also build on concepts of performance as participatory, interdisciplinary and off-hours. Cahill said, “The space lends itself to a vast variety of musical possibilities, and I have invited composers and musicians who are inspired by the particular acoustics and resonance of the gallery. Each musician in the series has an international career, while all are based in the Bay Area. This series features pioneers, experimenters, progressive thinkers, creating new and appealing music on invented and traditional instruments, computers and the human voice.”

“The programs organized by our special guest programmers will engage our audiences in ways they never have before,” said Lawrence Rinder, director of BAM/PFA. Beginning on January 29, 2010, the museum will present programming each Friday night curated by additional guest programmers, through June 2010. The events will include readings, conversations, art making, film and video, fashion shows and other forms of performance.

Support: L@TE is made possible in part by the generous support of the Tin Man Fund.

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